Snowfall wreaks havoc in Halifax

Traffic accidents, stalled buses and flight delays hit the Halifax Regional Municipality on Friday, after a snowy morning.

Halifax police issued an advisory for drivers. They said slippery roads make it difficult for cars to stop, and to avoid steep or sharply curved roads. Since 6 a.m. over 80 collisions have been reported to police.

Halifax Regional Police also reported a head-on collision on Larry Uteck Boulevard just before 7 a.m., between a car and a snowplow. It shut down the road between the Amesbury Gate and the overpass on Highway 102 for several hours. The driver was alone in the car and sustained life-threatening injuries.

Halifax transit buses dealt with “severe lateness fleet-wide,” said Halifax Transit this morning in a tweet. Many buses were rerouted, but returned to their normal routes by mid-afternoon.

All routes that were on Snow Plan this morning have returned to regular routing. #hfxtransit

— Halifax Transit (@hfxtransit) November 16, 2018

Nova Scotia Power reported over 10,000 customers were without power across the province as of 12 p.m. In the HRM, there were about 5,000 customers without power, mostly on the peninsula.

All, but about 100 customers in Nova Scotia who suffered outages had their power back as of 5 p.m.

Delays are still expected at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. Anyone flying Friday is urged to check their flight status before arriving at the airport.

After the storm

As the snow let up, Environment Canada lifted its weather warning. The snow turned to rain in the early afternoon and is expected to continue until late this evening. They expect winds from 60 to 80 km/h, as well as more flurries overnight.

Four Dalhousie University students threw snowballs near a bus stop on campus, while other students waited for the bus. Crislia Johnson said she loves the snow, but not as much as her two friends from India, Sush Kant and Pranav Mahindru.

“It’s their first winter,” said Johnson.

Kant and Mahindru laughed as they made snowballs with their bare hands.

“It’s amazing,” said Mahindru. 

As Tim Firth and Ray Gonzalez shoveled a driveway on Coburg Road, Firth said the snow came as no surprise; it happens every year.

“Well, it’s to be expected,” said Gonzalez.